Apple Turnovers (with solid Coconut Oil)
Did you get a chance last week to try making pastry dough with the hardened (refrigerated) coconut oil? No worries if you didn’t. Today I am sharing with you the recipe for the Apple Turnovers I wrote about. It is the same pastry dough that was used for the apple crostata.
For full disclosure – I did not use a commercially produced, store-bought coconut oil. The coconut oil I used was homemade by a small (Guyanese) farmer, in Barbados.
The recipe is long so let’s get right into it.
Yield: 8
INGREDIENTS
For pastry dough:
● 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
● 1 ½ teaspoons sugar
● 1/8 teaspoon fine salt (pinch)
● 8 ounces solid coconut oil, chopped into large chunks
● Ice-cold water
For filling:
● 10 small apples, cored, peeled and sliced thinly
● 4 tablespoons orange juice
● Zest of an orange
● ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
● 3 teaspoons cornstarch
● 1/3 cup brown or white sugar
For glaze:
● 1 egg
● 1 tablespoon water
● 2 tablespoons castor sugar ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon (see notes below)
DIRECTIONS
For pastry dough:
1. Add the flour, sugar and salt to the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to mix.
2. Toss in chunks of solid coconut oil and pulse to mix. Open the cover and check the flour to see that the solids are like little pebbles. Re-cover the processor and pour ice water through the opening at the top while pulsing. Keep pulsing and adding water until the mix starts to come together, it would be crumbly. Open to test it – if the dough pastes together between your thumb and index finger it is done.
3. Flour a work surface and turn the contents of the food processor onto the counter. Flour your hands and bring the dough together by patting it. Cut the dough in half. Shape each piece into round disks or squares for easier cutting and rolling for turnovers. Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate at least for 1 hour.
For filling:
- Mix together all the ingredients in a saucepan and place on medium heat. Keep tossing until the sugar melts and the pot comes to a boil. When it comes to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for 5 – 10 minutes or until the apples are softened. You don’t want them mushy, they should still have a bite to them. Remember they are going to finish cooking in the turnovers.
2. Keep turning the mixture regularly so that it does not scorch or burn.
3. Set aside to cool completely.
Assembling turnovers:
1. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, flour a work surface and rolling pin.
3. Roll the dough into a 12-inch square and cut into 4 squares.
4. Put heaped spoons-full of the apples in the center of each square, don’t let it pile up in a heap; spread it out slightly.
5. Brush the edges of each square with the egg wash and fold the dough over the filling and pressing the edges with the tines of a fork. Carefully and quickly transfer to baking sheet and refrigerate or put into the freezer to chill.
6. Repeat steps 3 to 5 with the other piece of dough.
7. Let the dough chill for 15 – 20 minutes or until firm. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
8. Remove the pans of pastries from the freezer/refrigerator one at a time, brush with egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (optional). Make 2 x ½-inch slits at the top of the pastry and transfer to the oven. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until golden brown and puffed up.
9. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Serve warm. The filling will be piping hot and can burn, so be sure to let to cool to warm before serving/ eating.
NOTES
● You can bake both pans at the same time, however switch the pans half way through baking to ensure even cooking.
● The addition of the cinnamon sugar is purely optional. If you do not have castor sugar (which is a finer version of white granulated sugar), you can use regular white sugar or make your own caster sugar by pulsing the granulated sugar in a food processor.
● Another optional glaze is an orange or lemon glaze made with powdered sugar – ¾ cup powdered sugar and 1 ½ teaspoons juice.
